Rail and flange lubricator



Jan. 258, 1958 P. H'KERLEIR 2,521,263

RAIL AND FLANGE LUBRICATOR Filed Dec. 9, 1954 RAIL AND FLANGE LUBRICATORPhilip Henry Kerler, Clifton, N. J.

Application December 9, 1954, Serial No. 474,201

4 Claims. (Cl. 1843) This invention relates to a rail and flangelubricator.

It is common practice to provide a lubricant container along railroadtrack or the like and particularly prior to curves, so that lubricant isapplied to the Wheel flange immediately preceding the curve so as toprevent excessive friction between the contacting surfaces, eliminatingobjectionable squeals and reducing wear.

in general, such devices comprise tanks or troughs which contain asupply of free oil in combination with a wick within or adjacent towhich the wheel flange travels. Such devices have been found to beobjectionable for a variety of reasons. Particularly, the tank islargely open to the entrance of foreign matter such as paper or dirtwhich flys around the area. The oil thus becomes contaminated and thetank unsightly.

With the foregoing in mind, I have devised a lubricator which may beemployed in a conventional trough or tank but which provides a unitarylength of spongy or fibrous material which fills the tank and has anintegral portion thereof extending out of the tank so as to be suitablycontacted by the wheel flange. The device is of such a nature that itcan be easily installed or removed for replacement. Inasmuch as itsubstantially fills the tank, it excludes the entrance of foreignmatter. It is further so formed as to provide a greatly improvedlubricating action on the flange such as by providing a pumping actionwhereby the oil in the tank is automatically urged to the surface of thedevice for most effective flange lubrication.

The invention will be further understood from the following descriptionand drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a sectional view illustrating the device as secured adjacentto a rail;

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view as taken along the line 2-2 of Figure1;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary view similar to Figure l but illustrating theaction of the device in lubricating a wheel flange;

Figure 4 is a perspective view, on a reduced scale and partly brokenaway, of a tank insert; and

Figure 5 is a fragmentary view in perspective and showing the bottomsurface of the insert.

The device is applied to a conventional railroad or subway rail 16 whichis secured to a bed 11 which may comprise ties or the like. The tank ortrough 12 is elongated and comprises a bottom 13, side 14-, side 15 anda partial top 16 which longitudinally encloses a portion of the top.

The conventional form of tank is about ten feet long and divided intofour compartments of about 2 /2 feet in length. The purpose thereof isto confine tree oil to its own compartment particularly when the rail islocated on a grade. Suitable means of filling the tank is usuallyprovided in the top Wall 16. The insert of the instant invention may beemployed in such a conventional tank although it may be employed in anysuitable tank whether divided into partitions or whether it is a singledesired length.

2,821,263 Patented Jan. 28, 1958 Tank 12 is secured as is conventionalto the ties or other foundation by bracket 17 so that the tank extendsparallel to the rail. It is further spaced from the rail Web by abracket 18'.

The insert of the instant invention is an elongated length of fibrous,spongy or cellular material. As an example thereof, I preferably employcellulose sponge although foam rubber, sponge rubber or sponge glassfiber material may be employed.

The preferred cellulose sponge is a common product and is in common useas a kitchen device. When Wet it is flexible and resilient.

According to the instant invention, 1 provide such cellulose sponge inelongated form to a length of about 2 /2 feet although it may be anydesired length. Such sponge then serves as an insert 18 to be bodilyinserted in the tank 12. Referring to Figure 4, insert 18 issubstantially L-shaped in cross-section with the lower level 19 thereofadapted to be disposed under the top wall 16 of tank 12. The upper level20 comprises a platform formed with a series of transverse, parallelstrips which are spaced from each other and extend along the length ofthe insert while the lower level 19 is planar. Such parallel stripsextend completely across the upper level 20 from one side wall thereofto the other, said side walls extending the full length of the insert,being vertical and parallel to each other, and defining between them theupper level of the insert. The floor of the insert as noted in Figure 5may take the form of a grid having a series of continuous grooves 22formed therein.

The article of the instant invention is used and functions as follows:

It is generally preferabie to preliminarily wet the insert 18 with waterbefore inserting it into the tank 12. The reason therefor is thatcellulose sponge is generally rigid and unwieldy unless it is moistenedand the water further expands it about one-half inch in width so that itmore snugly fits the tank 12. Generally, after wetting it is wrung outso as to eliminate excessive or free water. It is then inserted throughthe elongated top opening of tank 12, so that the lower level 19 abutsthe underside of the top Wall portion 16'. This operation requires notools or mechanism. A supply of oil may be in the tank before the insertis applied or it may be poured in thereafter. Such oil will fill up theinterstices of the cellular or spongy insert and it will also fill upthe bottom spaces in the tank formed by the grooves 22. The device isthen ready for use. In the event t at the residual Water resists thecomplete penetration of the insert by the oil, a conventional Wettingagent may be used in the water in which the insert is initiallyimmersed. This will make it receive oil more freely. However, the inserthas been found to be effective without a wetting agent.

When a wheel 23 approaches the curve and passes over the lubricatingtan-k, its flange 24 rides over the upper level of the insert across thestrips 20. It depresses such strips as illustrated in Figure 3 so thatthe strips effectively embrace a circumferential area of the flange. Thestrips 20, being flexible and having the appearance of a washboard,provide an effective pumping action whereby oil from the body of theinsert is urged up to the strip level. The bottom, grid-like surface isalso of utility in encouraging the flow of oil upwardly to the strips.Such grooves or cuts Whether on the upper level or on the bottom bothencourage the flow of oil particularly since cellulose sponge of thisnature very often is formed with a skin which deters the flow. However,if desired, such skin may be removed in the instant device.

It will be noted from the foregoing that the entrance of foreign objectsinto the tank is almost wholly excluded because the insert substantiallyfills the tank. The insert has been further found to be extremelyeffective in lubricating wheel flanges for the purposes above noted.'

It will be further noted that the insert of the instant invention is notconfined to either conventional tanks orgtometallic tanks but they maybe used'in tanks of other materials such as of rubber or resilientplastic material or the like, which tank can thenbe bent to conform to aspecific track conformation and particularly directly at the curves.

What is claimed is: p

1. An insert for a lubricant tank comprising an elongatedlength ofcellular, spongy material, said insert being formed with two planarlevels on its upper surface so; as to be, of itself, normally of thecross-sectional shape of an L, the upper level of the two being adaptedto be contacted by a wheel flange during travel on a railroad track, thelower level being wholly below the upper level, said upper'level beingdefined by elongated, parallel side walls and being formed of a seriesof parallel, transverse, spaced strips extending completely across saidupper level.

2. An articleaccording to'clairn 1 and wherein the bottom of said insertis formed with a series of grooves.

3; An insert for alubricant tank comprising an elongatedlength ofcellulose sponge, said length'being L- shaped so as to have two upperlevels on two difierent planes, the upper level being defined byelongated, parallel sidewalls and comprising a series of paralleltransverse spaced strips extending along the complete length thereofplanar, thebo tt'oin of said insert being formed of a series" ofgrid-like areas having continuous grooves between them.

4. The combination with a lubricant reservoir comprising a tank havingsides, a floor and a top wall extending the length of the tank andpartially covering the top thereof so as to leave an elongated topopening, an insert in said tank,said insert comprising an elongatedunitary length of cellular, oil absorbent material substantially fillingsaid tank from one end to the other, said insert being formed with twoplanar, horizontal levels on its upper surface, one of said levels beingabove the other, avertical side wall on the upper level descending tothe lower level, said upper level and said vertical side wall bothextending above the top opening of the tank, said upper level beingformed of a series of parallel, transverse strips extending throughoutthe length of said upper level, the bottom of said insert being formedwith a series of grooves.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,138,971 Keeler Dec. 6, 1938 2,206,153 Berggruen July 2, 1940 FOREIGNPATENTS 814,172 Germany Sept. 20, 1951

